Sorry Charlie, inmates will soon have a harder time making illegal phone calls

by Tony Pierce

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In this handout photo from the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, Charles Manson, 74, poses for a photo on March 18, 2009 at Corcoran State Prison, California. Manson is serving a life sentence for conspiring to murder seven people during the "Manson family" killings in 1969. The picture was taken as a regular update of the prison's files. Handout/Getty Images

Charles Manson and other California inmates will have a tougher time placing illegal cell phone calls thanks to jamming technology that will be installed by the company that runs prison pay phones.

"This groundbreaking and momentous technology will enable [the prison system] to crack down on the potentially dangerous communications by inmates," Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Secretary Matthew Cate told the LA Times.

Global Tel Link plans to invest between $16.5 million and $33 million to ensure that the 33 California prisons would be able to block text messages, phone calls, and web usage to ill-begotten cell phones.

Global Tek Link is not investing millions solely to help stymie incarcerated criminals as they attempt to continue illegal ventures via smuggled iPhones. The company currently charges about $2 for a 15-minute call from a traditional prison pay phone, according to the Times. When illegal cell phone usage is blocked, the company expects legal pay phone usage to increase.